Hate speech law creates ‘political elite’: lawyer

OAKVILLE — Canada’s human rights hate speech laws can, and eventually will, prohibit discussion of any historical conflict in which religion or race played a role, according to a leading defender of Canada’s most notorious far-right figures.
Doug Christie, addressing the hate speech hearing of freedomsite.org Web master Marc Lemire on behalf of the Canadian Free Speech League, said Section 13 of the Human Rights Act, which prohibits messages “likely to expose” identifiable groups to hatred, has created “a political elite who alone can communicate their views and decide who else can communicate.” Originally formulated for telephone hate lines, Section 13 now applies to the Internet and, by extension, a wide array of published material.